I Promise
by Luver.of.Pie
Summary: Promise me, Amy." "I p-promise, D-Dan." Rated T for safety.


The sun seemed to have no mercy, no mercy at all.

Despite her mind's protest, Amy forced her weary feet to take another step, even though the pain was excruciating on the inside.

There was a small mound here, and she had to pull herself up, but by the looks of her bruised and bloody hands, it might be impossible. Amy let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and reached up with both hands, and started pulling.

When part of her torso was over the edge, her handhold slipped, and she started sliding! The redhead screamed, and frantically scrambled for another place to hold onto, and her tired hands rested upon a rock.

Panicking, she pulled herself up, and sat down on the rock, exhausted and hurt.

Amy closed her eyes and whispered, "Why did you have to go, Dan and Nellie? I'm all alone, and I'm not sure if I can make it!"

Although she didn't want to remember that tragic day, her minds thoughts flashed to that terrible time in the tunnels…

_**Flashback**_

_The tunnel was horrible._

_It was small, dark, wet, dirty, and it smelled like a rotting corpse! Amy shuddered, trying not to imagine what was emitting that smell, and pushed onward._

_Dan, behind her, was plugging his nose. When he spoke, he sounded like some kind of outer space version of Dan._

_"Amy, are we almost there? This smell is horrible!"_

_"Don't be a baby, Dan, and if you want to get out of here so bad, help me find the room!" He gave a small, short nod, and they kept on going._

_The tunnel was getting smaller and tighter, and soon they were on their hands and knees, crawling, while at the same time hoping for some sweet, fresh air._

_After about ten minutes of this uncomfortable form of transportation, they arrived in a large, wooden round room. Amy gave a gasp of pleasure, for in the middle of the room was a sealed box._

_Dan leaped forward, and took out his Swiss Army knife, swiftly pried it open, throwing the top at the other side of the room._

_Inside was a scrap of iron, and there were words carved into it. 'One piece of iron, 2x2', it read._

_Short and sweet._

_"We found the 38th clue!" Amy squealed. Dan rolled his eyes and looked upwards. "Yeah, but now we have to find a way to get out of here, McSqueally. Look around!"_

_But they barely had the chance to._

_A small patch of the dirt ceiling lifted up, and they saw Isabel Kabra's primped, pulled, and plucked face staring at them, smiling evilly._

_"Oh, Amy and Dan." She sneered, while still maintaining a perfect smile. "You should have accepted our help when you had the chance! Now we have no choice but to dispose of you."_

_Shocked by how quick this had all happened, Amy spoke with her old stutter. "Y-you'll never g-get t-the clue, I-Isabel!"_

_"Oh, I have no worry of that. I have perfect 20-20 vision, naturally, so I can make out every single word on that piece of iron you are holding. Thank you, Dan and Amy. Ta-ta! Now the only thing I have to worry about is telling Ian that his precious little Amy is gone."_

_Isabel gave a small wave of her hand, and was gone, but not before dropping something into the cave._

_"It's a bomb. Two minutes left on the clock." Dan said, with a calm that Amy had _**_never_**_ had._

_"Come on, Dan, we have to get out of here!" She ran over to a small ladder in the corner that she hadn't noticed before. But, it was hopeless as it stopped five feet short of the exit. As she started to climb up, to hopelessly reach for the ceiling, Dan put a hand on her shoulder._

_"Amy, I'll give you a boost up. I'll stay behind."_

_"Dan, why? There's no need for you to stay behind!" Amy said, putting a forced laugh into the end of her statement._

_"The Kabra's are smart, you and I both know that. If they don't find us, they'll know that we aren't dead. They'll come after us again. If they find me, they won't."_

_"Dan, no. You're coming with me, end of story."_

_But three years of searching had made its mark on him, and he had earned his share of intelligence. Although Amy wouldn't admit it, he was right._

_"I don't want to be alone in this!" She protested._

_"Besides, Amy, this argument has taken up almost all of our time. One minute is left, not enough for you to get me out anyway. Come on, move!"_

_He pushed her towards the ladder, and they climbed up it. Amy turned to her brother and hugged him._

_"I love you, Dan. Forever." She whispered. Dan hugged her back, hard._

_"It's going to be OK, Amy. Trust me!" She nodded, and wiped away a lone tear that had fallen down her dirty cheek._

_When they reached the top of the ladder, Dan grabbed Amy around the waist and pushed her up. She yanked open the ceiling, and clambered out._

_Even though she knew that she wasn't strong enough, she reached down a hand for Dan to grab._

_"Come on, Dan, reach!" She yelled, refusing to leave without even trying._

_Amy heard his laugh, although it was hoarse and sounded forced._

_"I'm not tall enough, and you're not strong enough. Just run, Amy. Please! And promise me that you'll keep on going. Promise!"_

_More tears were making their way down Amy's face, although she made no move to wipe them away._

_"I p-promise, D-Dan." As she closed the ceiling, she saw Dan making an attempt to smile._

_She smiled back as best as she could, a tearful smile, and then she ran. She ran as hard and fast as she could, but she still felt it in her bones when the explosion went off._

_She stumbled, and fell, scraping her elbows and knees, but Amy didn't feel the pain._

_She curled up where she fell, and cried._

_Soon after, the cloudy sky let out its tears also, and the rain fell down on Amy's face, mixing with the salty water sliding down her face._

_Amy stood up, and let the rain wash away the dirt on her face. And with it, she let it wash away years of fighting and death._

_When the rain stopped, hours later, she grabbed her small backpack and went back to the hotel room._

_As she entered, she hoped that she would see Nellie there, cooking at the kitchenette, even though she had left months ago, after breaking her arm. "It's too dangerous, you guys," Nellie had said. " Also, my mom is very sick. I have to go. Please, come with me."_

_They had shaken their heads and replied, "No. We have to win this."_

_With tears, Nellie accepted their decision and boarded the airplane without them._

_First Nellie, now Dan._

_Amy was truly alone._

_Amy packed up what little money and supplies she had left, checked out of the hotel, and got on the first airplane from Canada to Mexico._

_She knew that the final clue was there because the carvings on the wooden walls in the round room were Mexican._

_'For Dan.' She thought. 'I'll win it for Dan. I promise.'_

**_End Flashback_**

And here Amy was, standing about halfway up a hill so large, she called it a small mountain. But she had kept her promise.

The blistering sun was beating down on her, and the sharp rocks were cutting at her ankles, but she kept going.

Until now.

"It's too… hard… I can't… do… it…" She said out loud to no one. Yet, there was a small voice inside her head that was becoming louder and louder.

'Yes you can, Amy. You can do it!'

A wave of determination caught her, and she stood up. She took one small, shaky step up this giant obstacle.

And that step led to another one.

And that step to another.

And each step became stronger and firmer, and seconds, minutes, hours passed, and sweat rolled down her face, but Amy was finally right below the last platform, the platform where the final 39th clue lay.

She reached out a hand, and grabbed the overhang. She pulled herself up as hard as she could, but she couldn't get over it.

She was just not strong enough.

But the same voice spoke out again, this time saying, 'For Dan, Amy. Do it for Dan.' And then, as if to soothe the sweat stinging her eyes, and ruining her hair, a breeze blew over her, and rejuvenated her.

"For Dan." She whispered.

With her last thread of strength, she pulled her body over the platform, until her legs felt chilling stone. The coldness of it was like energy washing over her.

She stood on her shaky legs, and carefully walked toward a little bowl standing on a raised table made out of stone in the middle of the top of the mountain.

Inside of the bowl was a small copper square. '7 drops of melted copper', it read.

Amy sank to her knees and gave a cry of triumph, before the tears started to fall.

"I did it, Dan. I won! We won!" She yelled with delight.

Amy practically slid down the mountain in her haste.

"We did it." She whispered once again.

Amy Cahill did win the 39 Clues that day, and she became rich and famous.

But, shy Amy reigned, and she stayed in Boston, and led a quiet life, instead of licking up all the fame she had received.

She did take a small fortune out of her riches, though, and she built a magnificent white marble tomb.

Dan's body had been discovered, and she had him moved to her small mansion and buried there.

Every year, without fail, on Dan Cahill's birthday, there will be a magnificent red rose lying right under the four words carved onto the white marble, after his name and date of death:

September 21st, 1997 – April 15th, 2013: Dan Cahill.

_I kept my promise._

***~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Sad story, I know. **

**I got the idea for this story last night, while I was listening to the Country radio station where I live. **

**Miley Cyrus' The Climb came on, and this story immediately popped into my head! (Crystal Waters is having a little Writer's Block, and now that this story is out, the next chapter will be going up soon!)**

**Oh, by the way, I don't own the 39 Clues. I just own this plot.**

**I know that this was a very sad story. Trust me, I love Dan, and I hope that he doesn't die in the books!**

**Anyway, I will sign off with a fragment from the song, which I don't own:**

_There's always gonna be another mountain_

_I'm always gonna wanna make it move_

_Always gonna be an uphill battle_

_Sometimes you're gonna have to lose!_

**~4Eva**


End file.
